A big thank you to the author Martha Hall Kelly, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my candid opinion.

This is an excellent book about the Civil War years with looks into the women who volunteered to become nurses for the war effort and about the impacts and outrages of slavery and the slavery economy. It is a great book about how this war tore apart not just the country, but families, friends and every state involved. It is a great look into the long-lasting impact that this war created in our country. I would highly recommend it.

Martha Hall Kelly never disappoints! While I am sad that this will be the last book in this series, I am SO happy I read it. At times dark, but mostly hopeful, Kelly explores the Civil War through three different characters perspectives. I was immediately invested and sped through this!

This is the third book in the Lilac Girls series, and although the first two had some overlapping characters, they can all be read as stand alone novels. I actually read book 2 first, Lost Roses, and it remains my absolute favorite in the series. Partially because it took place during World War I which I think it sorely underrepresented in historical fiction. Lilac Girls was set in World War II which has frankly been done to death, and this book was set during the American Civil War. I personally tend to shy away from this period because I read a lot about slavery as a child (Roots and Gone with the Wind are some of my favorites), and so again the topic has been covered extensively for me and it also gives me anxiety to read about the horrific lives of those enslaved in the American South. This book was a bit slower than the other two, but still excellently researched and written. I will always read anything this author has to offer in the genre.

Sunflower Sisters is the third and I believe final installment in the Lilac Girls trilogy although they all stand alone.
This was a multi-layered heart breaking story told from three female POVs. All of them compelling and all of them worthy of being told.
There is the cruel, despicable Anne May who inherited the plantation she now runs. We also hear from Jemma, a slave that can both read and write (to her good fortune and detriment). Finally we hear from the Georgy Woolsley who comes from great wealthy but choose to join forces and become a nurse with the Union army.
It was crazy to wrap your head around the fact that these three women were all alive at the same time, living not far from each other, yet living such remarkably different experiences. Well done.
Links to social media to come soon.

I really liked this book. The characters were interesting and I liked being able to follow three very different persons points of views.
It was a bit slow at times, especially in the beginning but when you got in to the story it was hard to put the book down.

This is the final book in the Lilac Girls or the Woolsey-Ferriday Trilogies

I fell in love with Martha Hall Kelly’s writing when her first book, “Lilac Girls” debuted. The second book, working backwards in time, was “Lost Roses.” And now this, the final story, has come along, which takes place during the American Civil War.

One thing I like about these novels is that they are truly standalones. They are about one family across history and other than the blood connection, there is no mention of the other realtives or protagonists in the other two books. Maybe that’s why author Hall-Kelly wrote them in reverse.

The book is told from three points of view. First is the main protagonist, Georgeanna “Georgy” Woolsey, a great-aunt to “Lilac Girls” Caroline Ferriday. Georgy ultimately becomes a nurse, serving during the Civil War. Hall Kelly takes readers right to the battle front without romanticizing the events or the war. Sometimes it was hard to read. Georgy believes her destiny is to open a nursing school for women.

The second point of view is from Jemma, a slave on the Peeler Plantation. She is brutalized and beaten, often to the breaking point. As life and white people conspire to make her life as hard as possible, Jemma pulls herself up and continues.

The third point of view is from Anne-May Wilson, mistress of the Peeler Plantation. She is meaner than any man could ever be to her slaves. Anne-May is in charge of running the tobacco fields until, and if, her husband and brother, fighting on opposite sides, return home. It’s no wonder that the slaves are constantly running away. Her brutality is legendary.

The story flows well and the characters are well-developed. From reading the Author’s Notes, I learned that most of the research was done through the Woolsey family letters. Georgy had six sisters and one brother. I highly recommend reading that last section as it provides some insight into the Woolsey family.

At first I was confused about the sunflowers; I wasn’t sure what they meant. Sunflowers were used to warn runaway slave of places that weren’t safe. They pop up in the book in several places.

At 528 pages, this is a massive book to undertake. I read it in a little over a week, it was that good. It’s been a couple of weeks since I finished “Sunflower Sisters” and I find myself missing these characters.

“Sunflower Sisters” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of Sunflower Sisters in exchange for an honest review.

Martha Hall Kelly returns with the third novel in her Lilac Girls series with Sunflower Sisters, stories about the real-life women of the Woolsey/Ferriday family. Sunflower Sisters is about Caroline Ferriday’s great aunt, Georgeanna Woolsey, who worked as a union nurse during the Civil War. Georgy is joined by her sister Eliza, leaving New York to join the war in order to support the freedom of those enslaved, ultimately ending up in Gettysburg, where they are confronted with the horrors of both slavery and war.

I am a huge fan of Kelly's and Sunflower Sisters lives up to her previous works. The story is told from three points of view and although a continuation of the Lilac Girls series it is a stand alone and can be read out of sequence. This is a captivating historical fiction based on real women and real events. It is beautiful written and enjoyable.

The Sunflower Sisters has to be Martha Hall Kelly's best book yet! I could not put down. She usually starts off a little slow in beginning, but this book had me from page one!

There was clearly lots of research conducted for this book! The historical details were fascinating, and I like that the author has followed one family back through history. Anyway, I really wanted to like this book as I loved Lilac Girls and Lost Roses (both of which I listened to on audio), but I struggled to stay interested in this book. In particular, I found that the plot was too slow and the characters were harder to follow in this story. Thus, I put this aside to read other books, and I've tried to come back to it several times. Ultimately, I DNF after getting through the first ~150 pages.

I'm am going with a 5 rating on this one as representative of how much I enjoyed this series of three books. Definitely read the other two and be sure to read the author's notes at the end as the stories are based on true stories of this family over different generations. The author is a wonderful writer and each of the books tells the story from the 1st person perspective of three women. One is a sister of the family, a victim, and a villain. the villain presentation is actually fascinating as they are 'real' and vulnerable in their portrayal. I highly recommend this series for fans of historical fiction and nonfiction. The research that the author took in writing these books, in and of itself, is impressive.

There was a certain excitement reading "Sunflower Sisters" by Martha Hall Kelly. I have wanted to read her "Lilac Girls" book, but have not had the opportunity to do so. When my wish was granted to read this one, about Caroline Ferriday's Great Aunt. Although I admired the author's take on this turbulent period of history that we should all know about, ie. civil war and slavery, this book did not hold my interest. Perhaps it was jumping back and forth between points of view. I do admire Georgy Woolsey doing more to life than being a deb. She went into nursing. I did like the author's style of writing, I would try another book, perhaps that didn't have to do with this trilogy. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to try and read this book!

Sunflower Sisters, book 3 in the Lilac Girl series by Martha Hall Kelly, was quite the story where the lives of three women eventually intersect in New York before the end of the Civil War. Georgey Woolsey is one of 7 sisters and a Union war nurse. Jemma is a teenager enslaved on the Peeler Plantation and later serves in the army as a drummer-boy. Anne-May is the harsh mistress of the Peeler Plantation. Most of this book is based on real people and it's a fascinating read.

You can tell that Martha did a tremendous amount of research on the Woolsey family. Georgey's chapters were my favorite and I always felt like I had to read faster to find out more of what was going on in her life. I plan on reading Lilac Girls and Lost Roses in the future.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Martha Hall Kelly has a unique way of breaking my heart, filling me with joy, and stunning my senses with every new release. Sunflower Sisters is no exception to the rule. The Civil War setting of this latest piece had me turning the pages furiously, and the connections of the characters from Lilac Girls make this a must read for her fans.

Once again, Martha Hall Kelly does an incredible job at mixing history with fiction. Following the success of her first two books, Sunflower Sisters takes place during the United States Civil War era and, like Lilac Girls and Lost Roses, follows the storylines of a few women; one of which is Georgeanna (Georgy) Woolsey, the ancestor of the Woolsey women from her first two books, who was a Union nurse during the Civil War.

It is a long book with a slow start, but it's a good story, and the research that no doubt went into it, shines through each chapter. If you enjoyed Kelly's first two books, this one is definitely one to pick up and read at your leisure. Also, if you haven't read Lilac Girls or Lost Roses, but want to read this one, it can be read and understood without having read the first two books

Book 3 of the Lilac Girls series. You do not need to read these in order.
Three amazing women walk us through their generations.
3.5 stars from me.

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly is an in-depth look at the horrors of slavery and the brave people who fought for freedom for everyone. In the story, we meet Georgy and her sisters, all staunch abolitionists, fighting any way that they can. Georgy does nurses training and tries to find her way in a man's world as an Army nurse. Jemma is a slave on Peeler plantation, where she struggles daily to do what her master, an evil woman who tortures her slaves, bids her to do. The slave owner is Anne-May. The story is told from the viewpoints of all three women and shows how, during war, all of their lives collide. An excellent story, I quite enjoyed it. It was also very historically accurate, allowing me to learn more about our country's history. For, without knowing about it, how can we learn from it?
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

What a lovely historical story taking place during the Civil War.
Sunflower Sisters is the third and final book in the Lilac Girls series.
Taking place from New York to Washington, D.C., to Gettysburg and Hagerstown, Maryland.
What is really fabulous about this one is story, a lot of it is based on actual letters and poems from and addressed to the Woolsey sisters .
This captivated me from the start. I really enjoy reading historical books such as Sunflower Sisters that make you feel as though you are experiencing it as you read it.
Highly recommended book.

Pub Date 30 Mar 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you,
All opinions expressed are my own.

WOW! I absolutely loved this book. I have always been a historical fiction fan, but this is my first Martha Hall Kelly book. Her writing is beautiful and the storyline is so immersive and vivid. This is an absolute must-read for any women's historical fiction fan.

This book was absolutely fabulous! I loved the characters and the story. It was my first time reading something from Martha Hall Kelly, but I had heard good things about her work before reading this one and so I knew I had to give this one a try.

The story was emotional and powerful. I thought it was also rather unique and it will be one of those books that is on my mind for quite awhile. I am looking forward to reading more from Kelly.

Highly recommend for fans of historical fiction set during the Civil War. Ms. Hall's pen paints a beautiful masterpiece of three strong women, determined to survive and leave their mark during a turbulent time in history.

Ms. Hall sets a high bar for historical research and maintaining accuracy in her stories. I loved the fact that this story was told through the lens of three different women. That of real-life Georgeanna Woolsey, Union nurse, is one that has been the inspiration of characters in other books that I have read. I was glad that the author also told the story through the fictional characters of Jemma, a young slave girl, and her hard-hearted mistress, Anne-May. Anne-May is the perfect foil to Georgeanna.

The author handles tough topics of slavery and brutality with a truthful pen that does not glorify the past. Fiction should be a mirror that does not erase or change history, but allow readers to be compelled and learn from the past.

I received an advanced review copy from the author/publisher and NetGalley. I was not required to write a review and the opinions expressed here are my own.